Monday, June 22, 2009

Mostly the same - but different

In the last week our garden mullein moth caterpillars have been piling on the pounds, now more cocktail sausage than twiglet. I loved this view of one apparently sucking up the downy verbascum.

A post or two ago I put up a picture of a male Oedemera nobilis, with the pantaloon like back legs. Here the slim legged female version demonstrates the difference.

During some weeding I disturbed this white plume moth which went on to pose rather nicely to show the feathery wings. A tricky one to get the plane of focus right in the iffy light - this was my best handheld effort. Please ignore the bindweed - although I'm at the stage of feeling I can't anymore.

Getting up later than planned on Sunday I had a couple of hours in the Forest. Driving along near Speech House I saw a bird up ahead fly across the road and perch briefly on the top of some bracken. Always worth a closer inspection, so I slowed to see a male redstart flitting around. Then the female showed ....
and again. Nest or fledgling? She dived into the bracken nearby and I had a fleeting glimpse of a food pass to this little one - lot of vegetation in the way though, so sorry about the quality of the shot.
Quick snap and i retreated to watch from under a tree. There were at least two fledglings calling in the area, and possibly even two pairs of adults. Good to see, although that tick isn't ideal for a wee soul like this.
As always some better quality versions HERE Use the slideshow to view on a black background.

1 comment:

Midmarsh John said...

A great shot of the plume moth. I only see them with their wings rolled up tight.